Uzumaki Naruto―Tale of the Gutsy Kunoichi
by miku89
Summary: Rewritten. Thank you, Sasuke. I'll fix everything, even if it breaks every bone in my body to do it. I won't let anyone down, nor would I throw their faith for me away. I'll save everyone. I'll save you! I won't go back on my word, ttebayo! Time Travel
1. Prologue

**I have posted this up because there were some confusions with how I'm redoing the chapters. I'll delete the original version after I posted up 'till the most recent chapter (chapter Eighteen). Sorry for confusing you all, and I'm sorry with the really slow progress! **

**For those of you who's reading this for the first time, please don't mind what I just wrote :)**

* * *

_Naruto_

Our surroundings were ruined; the tall, huge rocks that surrounded us were now a quarter of the size it was, scattered randomly forming something close to a fence to stop us from going any further. The sky was crying heavily, while the occasional lightning was fighting its way out of the clouds. I'm quite sure that the gods were weeping for us. We were at the Valley of the End; _He _stood on Uchiha Madara's statue, while I stood on Senju Hashirama's. This was the final fight of the Rikudou Sennin's descendants. We were both equally tattered; my black and orange jacket and the black shirt under it clung to my skin drenched with water and sweat. My orange pants torn at the hinges, also soaking wet. _His _hair was still in that same duck-butt hairstyle, while my long, blond hair's dyed with blood. I don't even know if it's all mine.

He charged his Chidori.

I formed my Rasengan.

"**SASUKE**!" I yelled as the spiral ball on my hand glowed as if to call out his name too.

"**NARUTO**!"

We were blinded by the light we had created as our prized techniques collided.

* * *

I shakily stood on my feet, but ended up crawling towards the man I call my best friend. Or is it brother? Maybe love?

I lost track on what he was to me, but I knew one thing, and that was all I needed.

He was one of, if not most, my precious people.

I finally reached him. I finally ran my hand through his hair one last time.

But his eyes weren't seeing me.

Glazed over, a grayish black.

I didn't need to check for his pulse to know that he was dead.

If only we had died together, then maybe I wouldn't feel such pain. Maybe, just maybe, I would have gone with him, the Sasuke that I knew, back up to heaven.

Curse my inherited longevity from my Uzumaki blood, mixed in with Kurama's effect.

**You're welcome. You know you still have that technique, don't you?**

Yes, that technique. The technique Ero-sennin had shown me right before he died.

Jikūkan fūin: Sennin Toho _(Time-Space Seal: Sage Walk)_

I don't remember how, but the words escaped my lips as my hands had subconsciously and slowly formed the several hand seals needed.

**Have any last words?**

My gaze on the Uchiha softened. As a matter of fact, I do.

"I wish… things could have gone happily―all from the very start. But that's not possible now is it? Neither I nor Kurama have enough chakra to go that far back…" I struggled to continue, wheezing, despite the fact that he was dead. "But… we have enough to go back to the Genin days…"

I looked up at the sky, seeing how the clouds have started to clear. The sunlight had seeped through, and it enveloped him. The sight had regained some energy in me, and I smiled my winning smile. "Thank you, Sasuke. I'll fix everything, even if it breaks every bone in my body to do it. I won't let anyone down, nor would I throw their faith for me away. I'll save everyone. I'll save you! I won't go back on my word, ttebayo!" My form started to fade away, but I didn't pay any attention to that. I kept my eyes on the sky, before closing my eyes.

"_See you later."_

* * *

Naruto had to refrain herself from groaning in front of the Third Hokage, for two main reasons:

One, she had just lost her great development in the top, female part of her body in a matter of exhausting seconds.

Two, she had a lot of explaining to do.


	2. Chapter One

"Naruto? Since when did you know how to use the Body Flicker technique?" The aged Hokage raised a brow questioningly. "And I've never seen anything like the one you did just now…"

Naruto laughed nervously, "Right… about that, Hokage-jijii…"

"Hmm?"

"Well, that wasn't the Shunshin. It was something… more unusual."

"Oh? Humor me."

"It's a time travel jutsu."

"… I didn't really mean to try and make me laugh, Naruto—which, by the way, wasn't funny at all."

"No, really. I mean a time-space fuuinjutsu (sealing technique). Something I've learned from Ero—Jiraiya-sensei."

His eyebrows shot up. "_Jiraiya-sensei?" _He asked incredulously. "You… aren't joking, are you, Naruto?"

"That's what I've been _trying _to tell you." She paused, replayed her words before hurriedly saying, "Not that I blame you or anything―this is entirely unbelievable, after all." The old man stared at Naruto long and hard, causing the girl to fidget.

He finally sighed, and leaned back on his chair. "What caused you to come to this time? Surely you hadn't tried this dangerous technique on a mere whim?"

"No. The future… is not what you would expect. Um, may I use a henge on myself? My body feels really… small." Naruto looked down at her chest, "Tiny."

The Hokage laughed, "Sure, do what you like."

The girl, in a puff of smoke, transformed into a fairly tall, young sixteen year old, with different clothes. Naruto wore a pleasant smile, "Much better. Well, getting back to the matter at hand… Ah, but Hokage-sama, this would be a very long tale. Do you have the time?"

Hiruzen blinked at her politeness, and what she called him. "I'm free for the morning—it's six o' clock right now, and speaking of which, your teams are announced today at nine. Would you be fine to go?"

"Well… I feel quite tired and I know who my teammates are, but I would like to see everyone again." She smiled sadly, "I'll briefly start from the Chunin Exams… That's the beginning of everything, I suppose."

It was just then did Sarutobi Hiruzen know, merely from her tone, that he was in for a hefty headache.

* * *

Naruto stretched the kinks out of her neck and back as she got out a few ingredients from the fridge. Luckily, she had all sorts of vegetables (kindly given by the Hokage a few days ago, probably), and meat. She set the rice cooker, and started chopping.

"Ouch!" She quickly got a tissue and wiped the blood oozing out of one of her fingers. _Curse these short limbs! _Imagine how bad her kunai and shuriken skills have gotten because of them…

Sighing, she looked through her cupboards and got out a small band-aid. Checking the clock, she saw that it was fifteen minutes before eight. _Still got a lot of time… I'll be done making bento and preparing for the academy by thirty minutes, so I guess squeezing in training will work._

A smile graced her lips as she placed the frying pan on the fire, and got cooking. _Hah, to think I'd miss house-work this much… _She sniffed the wondrous smell, _and I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a big meal today._

She frowned at a thought, _now that I have time to think… I wonder why I didn't appear in my bed, seeing as I would have been asleep at this time… _She shook her head. Unnecessary thinking didn't sit well with her. _I was probably sleepwalking, and just happened to wind up in the Hokage's office. _She scowled, _but then again, the Old Man had said that I appeared in a weird way… Grah!_

**Shut up. Your voice is annoying me.**

_Hmph! It's not like I want to think this much, but I just do! _Naruto sighed, _that's what happens when you're too smart._

**Hmm. I question that.**

_Shuddap._

**I will if you do.**

_You're so childish._

_**Shuddap.**_

"Stop copying me, dammit!" Naruto sighed. She loved that furball—she really did—but he really got on her nerves more often than not.

After making her two lunch boxes, she looked around the room. She hummed. Now that she remembered, she wasn't too unorganized except for the occasional ramen cups here and there. Picking them up, she threw away the contents in the sink, crinkling her nose while doing so.

Sakura had been around at her house quite often, and reprimand her for not taking care of her apartment. They would clean it up together, though, and those were the times Naruto cherished. She became fond of house cleaning, but she loved cooking now. She'd always find herself grinning whenever she reads a new recipe book, too.

Sai had called her a freak.

That hypocrite. Naruto rolled her eyes at some of the memories of him, but felt a small pang in her chest.

Darn. She was homesick already.

* * *

Sweat rolled down the side of her face as Naruto's shuriken missed the bull's-eye yet again. In thirty minutes she had mastered the kunai fully, just as good as she had been in her original time period. Her shuriken skills, however… everytime it flew off, she'd scream bloody murder to the creator of the weapon.

"Why did I have to grow so much?" She whined, as she flopped on the ground. "Gah! This is no time to slouch!" She jumped back up, and threw the shuriken at the target again.

She scowled when the small, four-pointed blade had missed by a mere centimeter. _Well, looking at the bright side, I'm improving a lot, I guess._

She grimaced at the memory of her first attempt. It was pathetic, to put it simply.

She swung, and grinned.

It hit its target.

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for classes to start.

"Dammit, I'm late!"

She quickly picked up her weapons, and then noticed a many threads of ninja wires. _Huh? Why are they in a shrub of all places? _She then blinked, and it felt as if a light bulb had switched on in her brain. _That's it!_

* * *

Sasuke sighed in irritation at the pink and purple disturbance. "Go bother someone else. Your presence is annoying."

Ino and Sakura stopped their bickering and looked hurt, before they sulked and went to find another bench to sit on. That was when they all heard the window break.

Sasuke's eyes bulged out as a large flurry of wire attached shuriken and kunai took hold of the wooden desk he was sitting behind. Then, his eyes threatened to pop out when an orange blob literally flew in from the giant hole in the glass.

The class gaped when they saw yellow and orange collide with black and blue.

Sasuke could only stare at pools of oceanic blue in shock, as he was nose to nose with Naruto.

And also lips to lips.

The blonde could only hear alarms ringing in her head.

This was certainly not what she had expected on the first day of getting back in the past.

* * *

Iruka chuckled nervously when he got inside the _silent _classroom. "Sorry I'm late…" _What on earth did I miss? _"Well, congratulations on passing the Genin test! I hope you are all prepared for the life of a real ninja—" He raised a brow when a hand was raised.

And his eyebrows raised up at an incredible height when he realized who the hand belonged to. The lazy boy _never _asked a question in class before.

"Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Sensei, why's Naruto here? I thought she flunked the test."

"Ah… that." He laughed nervously, "It seems like Mizuki had made a mistake on her test scores, and so she passed."

Some whispers erupted, before he silenced them. "Quiet, class! I need to announce the team selections!" The class was as silent as the dead.

He sighed, and brought his sheets closer to read them. Naruto tuned the first six teams out. She was going to completely shut her ears when her team was called out.

"Team seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Insert said girl's disappointed groan here, "Uchiha Sasuke." Haruno Sakura squealed in delight, causing everyone's ears to pop, before the whole female section of the class complained.

Iruka shouted, "Shut it!" Calming down, he coughed into his hand, "It's traditional that team seven gets the last of the grade, and the highest of both genders. Seeing as Naruto was dead last, and Sakura was the top kunoichi of the year, it's only natural that they would get Sasuke as their teammate."

Naruto grumbled grumpily at the glares she received. It's not her fault she didn't go back in time far enough.

* * *

Naruto stretched; glad to be out of the stuffy classroom and away from the (weak) killing intent. She yawned, before settling onto a tree branch

She stared at her bento boxes. And stared. _Darn. I don't feel so hungry anymore… just so tired. I should probably give one of them to someone… _

She glanced around, before she noticed a bit of pink through the leaves of trees._ Sakura's a good person to give it to! She's probably on a diet. _Naruto rolled her eyes.

Sakura sighed dejectedly on the stone bench as she looked at her small lunch. Salad. She grimaced at the noise her stomach made.

A mouthwatering smell touched her nose then, and she sniffed around. _That smells so good… _She turned around, only to jump back at the sight of Naruto grinning, holding up her two boxes of delicious looking food.

Sakura gulped.

"Want this one? I sorta made too much this morning."

Sakura pondered on her options, before nodding. It was too much to turn down. She shuffled aside, giving the blonde some space.

Sakura brought her chopsticks down to cut the meat, brought it up, and took a bite.

_Oh my God. _"Naruto, _you _made this?" She asked, stuffing more into her mouth. "This is so good!"

"Hehe! Well, cooking for your whole lifetime makes you a pro at it!"

Sakura watched Naruto chew on her lunch in newly found awe. She hadn't thought of her to be… well, _good _at something. She only labeled the Uzumaki as the dead last, and only saw her as that. As she grew older at the academy, her dislike turned disgust, disgust at how annoying the girl was in her eyes. Sakura thought on that more carefully and realized that although Naruto was loud, her grades were horrible, there's really nothing to dislike about her. Now that she looked back, Sakura remembered how the adults had always watched Naruto walk down the streets in fury and hatred.

Why was that?

Pranks? Sakura inwardly shook her head. No, surely that wasn't it. Pranks, though could get mean and nasty, could be easily forgotten after a couple of years. And even if that hadn't been the case, it wouldn't have gotten such strong, negative emotions from that so many people. Had Naruto done a crime?

…No, that was _definitely not it._

Even Sakura could tell that Naruto wasn't a bad person, and was quite the opposite. She had seen once that Naruto tried to stop some bullies before, and always got beat up for it. Despite that, Sakura had never seen Naruto complain. Sometimes, fear had planted her feet to the ground, forcing her to watch the whole thing, but Naruto always picked herself up and walked home. Then the next day, she would be completely wound-free and happy, like nothing had happened.

Because of that, Sakura had nearly thought entirely the incident never happened to Naruto. But somehow, deep inside, she knew that that wasn't the case.

"Hey, Naruto, why—"

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

"Yea, Sakura?"

The girl furrowed her brows, before shaking her head, "Just wanted to say thanks for the bento."

Sakura knew, as of today, she would see Naruto in a new light.

* * *

**Thanks for the kind reviews! **

yyh-ygo-fma - Sorry! xD I know, I have to get myself together But I'm sure this is the final version! Thanks for your support!

Alpenwolf - Thank you! T^T

Rasengan 918 - I'm glad for that! Thanks ^^

Zelga Lim Li - Thank you so much! I'll try the best I can!

Werebane - Thanks for understanding! It really makes me happy :) I'm satisfied with this now, I think :D

**I'll try to post the next chapters up as soon as possible! x)**


	3. Chapter Two

Slouching slightly from tiredness, Sasuke frowned.

Where were they?

Here he was leaning against the tree—looking cool, might he add—until his feet became numb.

Their supposed sensei, fine, but _Naruto _and _Sakura?_

"Woah, Sasuke?" He turned to see the former finally arrive. "What are you doing here so early? Better yet, how _long _have you been here?"

He scowled. "An _hour, _dobe."

"Pft. Then what are you still doing there? Train, idiot."

Oh, she did _not _just say that. He glared.

"Well, whatever. I came early to get some training of my own in… I'd never had expected you to be sitting around doing nothing, though. Wasn't there a man you wanted to kill?"

"Shut up." Sasuke's glare intensified. "Don't go around spouting things that have nothing to do with you."

Naruto smiled wryly. _It has quite a lot to do with me. _"Oh? Well, you saying it to our team makes it officially something we should care about."_ But damn, _she thought with a small frown, _I can't practice anything with you around. _That was, until a thought appeared in her head. "Hey, wanna spar with me?"

"You want to lose?"

Naruto grinned, "You think I will?"

"Hn. Of course you will, Dobe."

"Prove it with plain taijutsu." The blonde grinned.

* * *

Sakura had sported a major sweat-drop at the sight of Naruto straddling Sasuke's back, shoving his head into the soil. _"What_ in the_ world _is going on here?"

"Get off, breast-less!"

"Oh, you did _not _just go there, dick-less!"

"Are you even a girl?"

"Are you a guy? 'Cause it would be a major problem if you aren't!"

"Shut up, she-hulk!"

"Why you—!"

Kakashi's voice caused Sakura to jump. "Oh my, what are they doing?"

"Having a wrestling match, apparently." Sakura deadpanned.

"Duck-butt!" Naruto screeched as she grabbed a fist full of jet black hair, "Eat dirt!" and shoved Sasuke's face in the grass again.

Kakashi and Sakura sighed.

"Alright, Sasuke, Naruto, we need to get on with the test…" The jounin spoke, increasing his volume to catch the two's attention. "Or we can just drop it so you three fail."

Sakura yelped, before storming to her still bickering teammates. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" She bopped their heads this time. "Shut up!"

Well, she surely surprised Sasuke and Kakashi by her actions. Though, Kakashi was more pleased than anything. Naruto grinned approvingly as she nursed the glowing red bruise that was developing.

"The rules are simple. You are to steal these—" He jiggled the two bells hanging from his hands like cherries. "—by noon."

Sakura frowned, "But sensei, there are only two bells…"

"Correct. One of you will automatically fail and be sent back in the academy." Kakashi gave them his eye smile. "You may come at me with the intent to kill—I'd prefer it that way, too."

Sakura gulped, while Sasuke only smirked. Naruto's face, held no humor, seriousness etched all over. Kakashi watched her expression with level eyes.

"Ready," Sasuke and Sakura tensed "get set—" Kakashi smirked under his mask, "—go!"

He disappeared with a 'poof,' smoke left behind in his place.

* * *

Naruto yawned, for what seemed to be the billionth time this morning, and formed a scowl on her face; _Stupid nightmares._

She smirked, remembering the fight she and Sasuke had earlier. No matter how close she felt with the prick, she couldn't dismiss his attitude. _But, _she thought with a scowl, _I still need to train._

Whenever she fought, she felt as if her limbs were _way _too short. She hadn't gotten used to her physical changes yet—not at all. She'd have to resort with using jutsus, but can't since most of the techniques in her arsenal were too advanced for her age. Kakashi would surely notice the change in her ninjutsu skill.

But, she reminded herself, she had lost the better chakra control she had in the future—and she hadn't trained much to improve that. Not like she had the time recently to do that.

Shaking her head and sighing, she stared intently at Kakashi, standing idly by as he read his orange book. She let her eyes flick towards the hiding spot of her teammates, and suppressed the urge to sigh again.

It would be hard to convince them to work with her, no matter how better she got along with Sakura recently, and Sasuke surely has a grudge against her for their spar this morning. Fine. She'll just have to wait for the second chance Kakashi'll give them.

…But what if something screwed up and they wound up back in the academy?

Naruto shook her head furiously; that would make a _major _setback in her plans of saving Konoha, and it won't help prevent Orochimaru getting his hands on Sasuke either. In fact, it would surely give Orochimaru an advantage.

In conclusion, if she didn't actually try in this test, there was a high possibility that Kakashi would give up on them early, resulting in the eventual destruction of the world.

Well, isn't that just terrific?

Naruto growled as she jumped down and ran down in front of her sensei causing him to look down at her in feigned surprise. She grinned cockily, "We just have to get those bells, eh?"

He raised a brow, "I'm jounin for a reason, Naruto-kun." He offered her an eye-smile.

"Mm, so I'm guessing it's perfectly normal for a jounin to be a pedophile?" She was still aggravated that he hid for three hours before deciding he had made them suffer enough torture—she wasn't in the lightest of moods this week.

His eye seemed to harden a little, and Naruto presumed it to be out of seriousness than anger, before returning back to its usual lazy droop. "Ah, I guess so. It's become quite a trend, lately, especially for a soon-to-be sensei like me, but I'm not so sure little fresh-out-of-the-academy students like you were supposed to know about that."

"Ah, it's becoming quite a trend for us students to look underneath the underneath, you know?" Naruto smiled knowingly. She knew she was pushing it, but she figured the Hokage will inform Kakashi about her time travelling identity anyways, so why not poke some fun out of it?

* * *

Sasuke squinted from where he hid, and dark eyes narrowed through what his ears could make out of the conversation the blond and their sensei were having.

How the hell did that blond _idiot _notice something _he _couldn't?

He trained a heck of a lot more than average; even _he _realized that. He had the motivation that could keep him running for all eternity. He had the _hate. _The domineering hate in his mind would soon change itself to power. He would be stronger than _him. _He would be stronger than enough that he can beat _Itachi _without even breaking a sweat—

Okay, that's just wishful thinking.

He sighed, and refocused his gaze on Kakashi. Letting a hand stray close to his holster, he couldn't help but smirk at how sloppy Naruto fought. She surely hasn't changed; it was only the fault of his drowsiness in the morning that he lost to that idiot.

Naruto had tried to do a roundhouse kick aimed at Kakashi's head, but the jounin had simply leaned back to avoid it. Growing frustrated, Naruto made clones midair and the two copies sent a leg down to Kakashi's shoulders.

Sasuke scowled; how did she manage to snag the shadow clone jutsu?

Sasuke refrained from slapping his forehead as the blond ran to the obvious trap. She didn't even check her surroundings in suspicion either, like a sane,_ real _shinobi would.

Like he had expected, Naruto triggered the trap and was now hanging upside-down from a tree, her hand waving just a few centimeters away from the bell. Sasuke sighed; _that idiot._

But, to his surprise, the girl disappeared with a puff of smoke.

_Kage Bunshin? _

Another Naruto popped into existence, replacing the former clone. _Body flicker technique. _She plucked the bell out of the ground, a smirk evident in her whiskered face. She stuffed the metal piece under her jacket and most likely inside her shirt—Sasuke choked, looking away. Well, unless their sensei had no sense of honor or dignity, they can safely assume that the silver bell would be kept safely away.

Once sure that Naruto had finished hiding her prize, he stared at her, incredulity etching his expression. The dead last had managed to see past the trick _and _think up a plan like that? He then shifted his eyes to the approaching Kakashi's tired look, and concluded that the man knew just where his missing bell was. The Uchiha then heard a loud squeak down by the bushes, and wondered how Sakura had taken so long to realize what the blonde was doing.

After the shock subsided, Sasuke was feeling a wave of silent fury overcome him.

The Dobe had earned the title of genin before he even tried.

* * *

Kakashi let his eyes droop wearily as he watched his sensei's daughter and now possibly future student in front of him. She was certainly Kushina's girl, no doubt about that.

There was no _way _he would be getting his second bell back without Naruto giving it up.

"Sensei? Got a problem?" While on her face was an innocent smile, he knew the smirk that was hidden away—Kakashi heard it well in her voice.

Now that he thought about it, Naruto was reminding him very much of a certain Tokubetsu Jounin-rank, purple-haired woman. _Very much. _

Kakashi forced his visible eye to crinkle up in a smile, "No, I'm fine, Naruto-kun."

She made a face at the boyish suffix he had said at the end of her name, before shrugging it off. "If you say so. So… what should I do now? You never did say what to do when we passed."

_That's because I'd never expected you to. _"Stay in the game. If you can keep that bell safe, _then _you'll pass." He then seemed to contemplate something, and said as an afterthought, "While you're at it, why don't you help those two? They look so helpless that it makes my eye sore."

Despite his uncaring and nonchalant tone, Naruto knew that there was a hint in his words. But, she also knew that the dead last of the academy wasn't supposed to pick up on that. "What! No way, 'kashi-sensei! They should get the bell with their own strength."

The man stared for a moment, before sighing, shaking his head as he did so, and 'poof'ed away. Planning on taking a nice long nap, Naruto jogged to the memorial stone, until she realized one very, very, _very _stupid mistake on her part.

She had forgotten that she would be the best target for both Sasuke and Sakura.

She had one of the bells, obviously, and was the student with the worst grades through all her academy years. In their eyes, the Uzumaki would be an easy picking.

Sighing, she flopped down onto the giant rock, and formed a shadow clone to keep guard. Naruto gave a look around cautiously, before placing the leaf she had plucked out of a tree on top of her head. Once she was prepared, she began her chakra control exercise.

About a minute into it, she heard a twig snap a few meters in the forest behind her. Naruto slowly opened her eyes, and, to the surprise of the attacker, whipped out a kunai to block Sasuke's own. Smirking, she jumped a few meters back, flicking her eyes to scan around her for something pink. Sasuke was here, so where was Sakura?  
On cue, said girl flew out of a shrub, and a flurry of shurikens was sent to the blond's way, as well as Sasuke's.

Naruto growled, shoving herself off the Uchiha in front of her as she evaded the sharp objects. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four clones popped into existence, and commenced their furious attacks on their opponents.

Her teammates momentarily distracted, the jinchuuriki subtly ran off to a nearby tree and observed Sasuke and Sakura's fight. Grinning, Naruto relayed her plan in her head.

Each of her opponents had two, well synchronized clones to try and attack. However, her copies would just avoid getting hit, and eventually tire the two out. That was her tactic—Sasuke and Sakura didn't know about the extent of her stamina, after all.

Naruto's smile widened at Sakura's exhausted state—her clones had easily played the pinkette well. However, the grin was wiped off her face at seeing Sasuke, who probably had the equal amount of stamina as she did. Letting a crease form between her brows, Naruto tried to devise a new plan. She hadn't realized Sasuke was this skilled in their newly genin days.

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't have time to avoid the said boy's leg drove into her gut, and wheezed out, "What the—"

"Wearing those kind of clothes could kill you, idiot."

Naruto scowled and looked down at her blinding blue and orange jumpsuit. She'd need to buy new attire that would suit her occupation. "Shut up, Sasuke." Looking down, she saw that Sakura was left handling her own clones. "Dammit" she muttered.

He huffed, "I honestly can't imagine _you _being a ninja."

Naruto ignored the comment, gritting her teeth to stop the automatic retort she was about to make. It's not like he can read into the future, so it would be bad to let her temper get the best of her. Luckily, a pop sounded, and both looked down to see Sakura panting harshly, kunai in hand.

Naruto landed on the grass silently, hearing Sasuke do the same behind her. "Well, you two, aren't you going to get my bell?" She smirked, patting her chest lightly with her hand.

Sasuke followed her movements, and his face gained more color. Seeing this, Sakura all but screeched, "Naruto! Don't be so—don't do such dirty tactics!"

The blond let a reminiscing smile reach her lips, remembering she had once said something similar to her temporary tutor in her past.

"_Anko-sensei!" She whimpered, "That's unfair!"_

_The purple haired woman laughed heartily, "Since when was life ever fair for ninjas, honey?"_

"_Yeah, but… That—that's just playing dirty!"_

"_Oh is it? Last time I've checked, we—"_

"—ninjas ain't about honor—that's what samurai's are around for."

Sakura bristled at that comment, but didn't say anything. What Naruto said was true, after all. Sasuke huffed, before he began to stalk off.

"Hold on just a second, Sasuke."

He stopped, and turned his head to eye her with annoyance. Naruto smirked.

"How about we all form a team to get Kakashi's bell?"

Sakura blinked, before scowling at her, "There are _three _of us, if you haven't noticed. And in total there are two bells. You got one out of Kakashi-sensei's underestimation. See the problem here?"

Irritation developed in the blonde's tone, "What I meant is, how about getting the bell, and then—" she hopped to Sakura and whispered. Green eyes grew incredibly wide, before they stared back at blue orbs in incredulity.

Sakura opened her mouth, closed it, and then gaped again. "That's so ridiculous that it might just work."

Sasuke raised a brow at the two, before Naruto let him in on their plan.

* * *

Kakashi cursed—why of all times did Naruto have to keep her voice down _now? _Did she know he was watching them?

Shaking his head at that, he smiled under his mask. They were finally working together, although he didn't know how that clicked in the Uzumaki's brain. Maybe sympathy? He sighed. Seeing Sasuke's smirk grow wider, Kakashi felt a tiny bit of worry; since when did that stoic boy _ever _show that much pleasure in something? Naruto's devilish look had only supported the dread running in his veins.

And, as the man tried to look back on his previous observations of the girl, since when did Sakura ever gain such a sadistic expression on her face?

… Maybe it was best to retreat.

* * *

Sakura shifted her elbows on the soil to be in a more comfortable position on the soil, watching Kakashi determinedly as he casually flipped a page of his suspicious orange book in the middle of the flat grass. Ignoring the leaves of the bush that tickled her neck and the sides of her face, she firmly held the kunai in her hand close to her chest.

This team might just be the best she'll ever find in her life.

Keeping that thought in mind, she stared straight ahead.

Sasuke watched as Kakashi raised his head from the book he had been reading, and saw the way his single eye widened. Following its direction, Sasuke blinked, furrowing his brows in confusion.

In what was supposed to be an illusion of a beautiful woman's place was a tall man in a white cape, red flames pictured at the bottom of the cloth. Sasuke couldn't read the back of the cape—it kept fluttering in the air, just out of his vision as it went back behind the man.

What shocked Sasuke the most, were the man's features.

Blond hair that seemed to be dyed by the sun, and the bluest of blue set of eyes.

* * *

**I know you all are probably sick of me apologizing and my excuses, I'm very, very, _very sorry. _I'll try harder to keep my weekly schedule up―I'm not sure, but I think the toughest week's over. The previous one had been filled with tests and projects, so hopefully all that crap wouldn't be happening again soon.**

**But, it's almost the exams. (T^T)**

**I'll be sure to update the next chapter soon (before the next weekend if possible).**

**Thanks for the support m(_ _)m**

**And I'm sorry if this A/N sounds kind of... different?... from the other ones I've written―my dog has gained so much weight, that it's frightening. And I only just noticed this a few minutes ago. MY DOG'S GETTING FAT. \(TOT)/  
**


	4. Chapter Three

"S-Sensei?" Sasuke heard Kakashi utter, and looked down to see the silver-haired man frozen in shock and most likely disbelief.

Shaking his head, he turned to see Sakura frown in confusion, but prepared nonetheless. Waving his hand, he got her attention and smirked down at their soon-to-be jounin leader.

Naruto stood silently in the guise of her father, keeping a fair distance away from the Hatake so that he wouldn't notice any flaws the henge had. Guilt gnawed her insides as she watched the longing reflect strongly in Kakashi's sole eye and the way the man's fist gripped tightly. Forcing it down, she put on a small grin on the face of her illusion, sky blue eyes crinkling, much like how Namikaze Minato would have smiled.

Kakashi wouldn't know that it wasn't real. Not until it was too late.

He didn't know of Naruto's situation, after all. He didn't know that she would know how the Yondaime looked. There were no actual pictures of the deceased hero, except for the ones at the Hokage Tower that not many people had the privilege to see. The Hokage Monument doesn't provide the color and exact details Naruto's henge presented now.

The basic academy jutsu, which didn't even fit in the main ranks, Naruto used was perfect.

"S-Sensei…" Kakashi's strangled voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Why—How are you here?"

It was then.

Swiftly, two kunai pierced through the air. Kakashi widened his eye, ducking down to avoid the first projectile, and in a second jumped back to avoid the second. Plucking the weapons out of the ground, he turned back to where the blond had been, only to see that he was gone.

Flicking his eyes to the spots where Sasuke and Sakura had hidden, he didn't have the chance to look back or get away from the orange blob that had attached to his back.

His hand automatically reached for the remaining bell that hung innocently while the other was aiming to pull Naruto off, only for the former hand to be aggressively snatched back.

"Now!"

Kakashi's single eye widened as Sasuke popped in front of him; _Body flicker? _The raven snatched the bell as Naruto continuously kicked and punched random areas of his back, legs, head, and neck. Judging from the speed, he can safely assume that she had formed a shadow clone.

Sighing miserably as he rubbed the back of his head, Kakashi mumbled at the shrill cry of the alarm clock. _Perfect timing. _"Nicely done Sasuke, Naruto, though I'm not sure about those random hits you gifted me with." He stared pointedly down at the sheepish looking blonde. Then, he looked back at Sakura, who stood innocently behind him with a smile that worried him slightly. "Well, looks like you're the one who's going—" That was when he noticed something orange peek out from behind Sakura's back, which just so happened to be where she had hidden her hands.

On instinct, he reached back for the beige pouch strapped on the back of his pants, and, after patting it numerous times, inwardly panicked.

There were _many _inappropriate scenes for brats under the age of eighteen in that amazing book.

Whipping around to see the cheeky smirk now on all three twelve-year olds, he, wide eyed, stared at Sakura as she slowly opened the cover, innocently curious.

_Innocently._

Cursing many foul words in his mind, Kakashi tried to take the book back without showing just how anxious he was about getting it back. Not only was it in the grabby brat's little hands, he was about to indirectly corrupt the said brat's innocence.

And if Sakura was harpy, how was Mrs. Haruno?

Sakura snapped the book shut and knocked his hand away, a grin on her face full of absolute mischief. "Sasuke, if you would so kindly do the honor of burning this book?"

Kakashi watched in horror when the smirk on the boy widened. Sasuke happily shifted his hands in multiple seals, sucking in air as Sakura prepared to throw his sacred orange book.

Not only did he just buy the amazing piece of literature a few days ago—for a hefty price, might he add—all the bookstores' supply of Icha Icha Paradise had run out of stock. He hadn't finished reading it, and the novel won't come until next month; a boat had exploded from a mission gone wrong.

Naruto grinned, "We won't mind giving you back the rubbish if you let us all—"

"You all pass! All three of you! Now give it back!"

"That _was _easy" Sasuke mumbled, sighing as he cancelled the jutsu. Sakura nodded, deadpanning.

Naruto muttered, "Didn't I tell you? We should have also made him show us his face." She contemplated a thought. "I bet he has buckteeth."

Sasuke looked incredulously at her, Sakura immediately muffled a fit of giggles, and Kakashi feigned deep emotional pain.

"Or maybe fat lips."  
Sighing and deciding that he had enough of their accusations, Kakashi brought a hand over his forehead and rubbed it tiredly. "Alright, I need to explain to you guys a few things about this test that you three, unintentionally or not, figured out."

Naruto tuned out his words—or, in her mind, babblings—and sneaked a peak to her left at Sasuke, who was smirking at Kakashi. A smile touched her lips as she kept her gaze, subtly studying the boy's features.

Boy. That was exactly what he was, unlike the seventeen year old man Naruto had been remembered more clearly.

This version of Sasuke, Naruto still had a chance to save. She would use what little of the time in her hands to save him—no matter what. That had been her resolve even before fully knowing whether or not the time travel technique would work.

A whisper brought her out of her thoughts.

"_What?"_

Blinking, she widened her eyes when she noticed Sasuke discreetly watched her from the corner of his eyes.

"_Ah, no… It's just…" _Cheeks beginning to heat up, Naruto turned back to Kakashi, who was raising a brow. Trying to save herself from mortification at being caught spying on a boy, she ended up snapping. "You had something on your face!"

Sasuke's eye twitched in obvious annoyance. "Of course there would be, _Dobe. _We're in a training ground, and I had to stuff myself in a bush waiting for you to get a move on, idiot." Naruto knew without even looking that Sakura was taking great amusement from this. "If you'll stop staring at me like a fan girl, I would greatly appreciate it."

Naruto turned beet red in utter embarrassment and anger at his not-so-subtle comment, "And I thought you were _normal."_

"Don't be so full of yourself, bastard! Besides, there's _much _better eye candy around than you!"

"Hm? Like who?"

Naruto's mind shifted through her friends, but Sasuke's face kept popping in her head—the future Sasuke, of course. So, the first name of the few but close male friends she had that came to mind (other than Uchiha Sasuke) popped out of her mouth.

"Shikamaru!"

Sakura choked from her left and Sasuke had saucers for eyes. "Shikamaru? The Nara heir?" Kakashi gave his eye-smile.

"Uh—um…" Naruto refrained from slapping a palm to her forehead protector. _Of all people…_

Sakura butted in this time. _"Shikamaru? _That lazy pineapple-headed guy?"

"Hey! For your information, he's my class-ditching partner!"

"To think you'd actually like _him…_" Sasuke smirked. "Despite how he looks, he's actually quite smart, you know unlike you—"

"S-Shut up! I never said anything about _liking _Shika!"

"Aww, you even have a pet-name for 'im!" The pink-haired teammate piped in, taking great joy at the sight of a heavy blush on whiskered cheeks.

"That's 'cause—because he has such a troublesome name!"  
"'Troublesome'?"

Naruto whimpered.

* * *

After meeting up with Konohamaru, Naruto strolled down the streets, grinning at every store. It felt nice, she thought, to see all the buildings that surrounded her. They were all the same ones before Pain had come.

Though, she thought, this time with a pang of sadness, she hadn't wanted to be greeted with cold glances and whispers. She had gotten used to the warmth of her village.

Balling her fists into the pockets of her orange pants, she noticed the blinding color._ It would be better to tone it down a bit… _Besides, she got a lot of extra money from the Hokage because of her news of the future.

Choosing a seemingly fair-priced store, she entered.

Thankfully, the storekeeper wasn't part of the anti-Naruto organization—though she did seem a little wary at first. When the blonde had merely given her a kind, warm smile and politely asked for ninja gear, the woman opened up.

Now it seemed like the jinchuuriki was a normal new customer.

Naruto grinned when she spotted a jacket that had black flames engulfing a sea of red from the bottom. Its hood was black, and it had short sleeves, perfect for the warm summer weather now. Picking out orange shorts, new kunai holsters and black heeled sandals, she placed them down on the counter with a beaming, satisfied face.

Leaving the store, a shop caught her attention. It was most likely new; small but modern, it sold stationary for both civilians and ninjas.

_Perfect; _she was running low on sealing supplies.

Now holding three full and heavy bags, Naruto walked to her shabby but stubborn apartment. After that, her next stops were Kakashi and Sakura's.

Kakashi looked up from his book, an eyebrow raised at the two chakra signatures outside his door. One was almost equal with his levels, while the other was weak, that of an academy student's.

"Well, it's a surprise to see you, Naruto, Sakura. I like your new outfit; much better than your previous one." He directed the compliment to the blonde, and watched the pinkette fidget behind her, who stood calmly. "I don't recall ever giving you two my address though. Care to explain?"

Naruto merely smiled; a smile that looked much too mysterious to him, before telling him to follow her to the tower. "Hokage's orders," she said simply.

Arriving there and to the office, the old man smiled upon them. He then turned to Naruto, who had her eyes averted to the floor tiles. "You're not bringing Sasuke?"

"I thought it would be better if he knew later."

"Naruto…"

"I—I know I'm being incredibly selfish, but… I don't want to let him look at me differently yet."

Sakura looked on, brows furrowed in confusion. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly; whatever they were here for, it had something to do with mostly Sasuke and Naruto. Question is, _why?_

Naruto slowly went back to the door, holding a narrow slip of paper and sticking it on the wood. Whispering the name of the fuuin, she turned back to the group, seriousness only evident in her features.

Sakura blinked; this wasn't the first time she saw such a mature expression on her former classmate. The Uzumaki had been more and more like an adult ever since graduating the academy. "What's… going on?" Kakashi stared at the seal, and then down at his new black, red and orange clad student.

"That seal's the silencing technique. How did you learn such an advanced fuuinjutsu?"

Naruto spared him a glance before turning to the Kage. "Don't worry, Jijii. I made sure to practice it hard the past week, so it works fine."  
"I never doubted your skills, Naruto."

"Just saying." The girl smiled, fully aware that he knew she was stalling. Walking up towards the old man's desk, she leaned against it casually. "Well, I'll just be saying everything like I had done before with Hokage-jijii for now. I need to brush up on my skills before being lazy. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, you might want to get cozy—it'll be long."

Kakashi glanced down at his pink-haired student, and saw the silent agreement on her face. "We'll stand."

"If you say so." Naruto sighed, running a hand through her loose hair—she had taken off her forehead protector and relieved the golden tresses from its usual ponytails. _I'll have to make this quick. _"Well I'll begin from what Sakura should know since we're on the same team."

Kakashi widened his eyes, "Wait—"

Sakura's eyes locked onto crimson demonic eyes.

"Sakura-chan," the blood red orbs flickered back to their usual blue hue, "I'm the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails."

"J-Jinchuuriki?"

"The Kyuubi is sealed right here." Naruto smiled softly as she clutched the cloth around her stomach. "And I have him controlled, if I see from your point of view."

"Controlled?" Kakashi was the one to ask this time, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. But really, he's more of a reluctant brother." Naruto laughed at their incredulous faces, deciding it was best to start from scratch. "I guess I should tell you the truth behind October the Tenth, twelve years ago."

Closing her eyes to avoid the horror filled faces, she relived history.

* * *

"Eh? Sakura? Well, I know where she lives, but I think I saw Naruto taking her somewhere, so she's out." Ino batted her eyelashes in what she thought was attractive. "Why would you need that forehead girl when there's someone so much better?"

Sasuke didn't take his eyes away from Shikamaru who scowled uncomfortably. "I was looking for my team," he answered in monotone.

What Naruto saw in the—as Sakura had described the boy—pineapple headed Nara, he would never know.

The Uchiha stalked off, and Shikamaru was left watching his retreating back. "What just happened?"

Sasuke heard Chouji merely munch loudly on his chips in reply, growling with the ever so present scowl on his face. _Where were they? _He should have gotten Kakashi's address. Maybe then he would have gotten some more training in without his two annoying teammates.

Thinking for a moment, an idea struck his head. He should just go check for the available ninja registrations at the Hokage Tower—it wasn't like that weird, idiotic jounin's an important shinobi, anyways. He should be able to find the man's information easily enough—

Was what he thought, but it seems like those thoughts were entirely incorrect.

The woman at the counter immediately had stars in her eyes at the mention of Hatake Kakashi, and had gone off on a speech of simply how amazing the copy-ninja was. When Sasuke had raised a brow at the nickname and inquired how the man had acquired it, it only caused the stars to alight with fire. After her terribly long explanation, she barely remembered that he had asked for where he lived, and noticed that he was one of his new students. "Oh! Uchiha Sasuke-kun? Ah, he lives right around…"

So now, the boy stood shocked as the woman had gone off to answer some other civilians who were having problems with a D-ranked mission gone wrong.

Then, as the word _Sharingan _sunk in, a burst of hatred had run along his veins.

* * *

Sakura's legs gave in at the new information Naruto had implanted to her brain. A look of pure, unadulterated shock and horror stuck on her face, and her shoulders shook as streams of tears poured down her cheeks.

Naruto wanted to cry as well—seeing her bestfriend breakdown never did her any good. A somber smile twisted her lips; Sakura had always been a crybaby when she was a child.

But Naruto knew. She knew that the girl had to be prepared for what was to come, mentally and physically. She knew that she needed to lift the drape of ignorance to the world from her. No matter how much she hated it, Naruto knew it was necessary.

As Itachi had forced back into her mind, she couldn't shoulder everything on her own. The weight would drown her in the cold sea, numbing her to death and preventing her from floating back up.

Kakashi ran a hand through his silver hair, his only visible eye shielded. The blonde could never find out what was on his mind, and this was one of those times. Naruto then noticed that she didn't know much of the man like how Team Ten knew Asuma at her timeline. Hatake Kakashi was a pure mystery.

"Somehow," he started slowly, calmly, "I'm not quite surprised that Sasuke had defected Konoha."

Naruto's smile turned crooked; wry. Sakura's shoulders shook even more violently, and sobs escaped her lips as she covered her eyes with her face.

"His ambition is not like others in this village. It's stronger—a sinister justice, you can say." She replied to him. "I can relate a little with how he felt; craving for revenge can sway the way you think of what is right and wrong. To most of Konoha, who hasn't felt the deep pain Sasuke has, they wouldn't be able to understand. In their eyes, revenge against kin is wrong. Although I feel that it is still wrong, I still get it. Had I been in Sasuke's place, I would do the same, especially since I know what exactly went on during the massacre."

She stretched, "Now, I'm back here in this time period."

"You said that you have the Kyuu—Kurama under control. Shouldn't the seal be back to its former condition now that you're back into your twelve year old self?" Kakashi frowned, "Why would it remain the way it was from your future?"

"Not really sure—Kurama, the lazy fox, didn't go into full detail, but he said that the seal's more of a 'mental' thing rather than 'physical' so it wouldn't change, like how my mind's still my sixteen year old self." Sakura's face twisted in bemusement at first, before she inwardly broke down Naruto's words and understood. "Though it's all nice and good, he also said that it wouldn't remain that way. My memories would start to fade away—another reason why I'm telling you guys—and the seal would slowly go back to its former state when I was twelve.

"To prevent that, I need to re-master fuuinjutsu, seal up my memories, and add a seal onto the one locking Kurama up in a cage."

Realization wafted over Kakashi's form. "So Jiraiya-sama is going to come to train you?"

"Yup, right, Hokage-jijii?" Said old man resisted the urge to roll his wrinkled eyes at the less than appropriate but affectionate nickname, and nodded. She hopped off Sarutobi's desk, "Well, now that you all know, I think we should wrap it up from here." Sakura took a moment to stand up, wiping her face with her sleeves.

**Brat. Weak killer intent down below; guess who?**

Naruto blinked, before smirking. She skipped to the door, Kakashi and Sakura following her, and waved to the Hokage. "Well, Kakashi-sensei, since the whole team's here, why don't we train?"

* * *

**And that's the end of chapter three!**

**Sorry for the lack of updates―Exams T^T  
**

**I've decided to change a whole lot of things for this fic (the original plot sucked, as most of you probably guessed). Hopefully the next update would be quicker...  
**

**Thanks for the reviews :')  
**


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